He could have been like hundreds of other students, terrified and barricaded inside the building. He could have been at home, out with friends, anywhere but at the end of Myron May's .380 semi-automatic handgun.The night he was shot outside Florida State University's Strozier Library, Ahmed had taken an extended break from studying for an upcoming exam.

Farhan "Ronny" Ahmed and his service dog, Marino.(Photo: Courtesy of Ronny Ahmed)

Ahmed's injuries left him paralyzed from the hips down and with an almost unworkable right hand. But he didn’t die.

A year later, the 22-year-old from Apopka is settling into his altered life. His new normal is a wheelchair, rehabbing his hand and doctor appointments four times a month. He has the help and companionship of his service dog, Marino, and gets around town in his wheelchair-accessible van.

He speaks in the same dispassionate voice he did when he recounted the night weeks after the shooting: Measured and with an easygoing honesty. A year removed, he no longer relives the senseless event slow second by slow second, he passively thinks about the calamity that changed his life forever, although it remains "such a huge night" for him.

He still lives in Tallahassee, attends concerts with friends and goes out to bars. He won't graduate for another year and a half since his condition forces him to adjust his course load.

Two bullets are lodged near crucial parts of his body. The first struck him near the belly button and rested next to a vertebrae, damaging his spinal cord, resulting in paralysis. The second went through his right arm, striking nerves in his right hand and shattering his humerus. It stopped just 1 ½ inches from his heart.

Now, tattooed across his chest is a heart with a bullet next to it. Inked on his right arm is the bullet's path to his vital organ. His stomach is still too scarred for a third piece of art.

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"I’ve never been one for cameras or any of that," he said. He is used to performing magic and fire breathing acts, but "talking on camera and being interviewed is different."While he's thankful people are interested in his story, Ahmed has mostly tired of the television and newspaper interviews and is now apprehensive to speak to reporters.

"It’s getting there slowly; that's the good part," he said of his recovery. "I have a lot of support thankfully.”

If he holds his right hand in a certain way, he can grasp objects. Once it fully recovers, he plans on returning to magic and fire breathing. Since he received the van in June, he no longer has to rely on his mother to drive him to the doctor.

His sister, Farhana, in New York City, has handled his finances and paperwork.

In the aftermath of the shooting, his friends have started a medical trust for him at YouCaring.com to help cover expenses. His medical bills are approaching six digits.

The Tallahassee community and others have stepped up to support him. Donations have come in many forms: Madison Social bartenders gave up their tips and a 9-hour cycle-thon at Badass Fitness raised $26,400. His van, a Toyota Sienna operated by hand controls, was made possible through contributions by FSU, Legacy Toyota, Vocal Rehabilitation and Advanced Driving Systems.

"Really, I couldn't have done it without all that support," he said.

Of those injured that day, Ahmed was the most seriously injured. Nathan Scott, 31, was shot in the leg. Elijah Velez, then 18, was grazed by a bullet and did not respond when asked for comment.

To help:

Ahmed's friend Chase Roberts has set up a medical trust to help pay for Ronny's medical bills. To donate or to learn more, visit Ronny Ahmed's YouCaring.com page.

Library worker recovering

On the night of the shooting, Scott was working at the library's front desk when he heard loud popping sounds outside. He and his co-worker curled up under the desk. May entered the library and saw Scott, who pleaded with him not to shoot.

"I remember saying, 'No, no, no, no, no,'" he told the Tallahassee Democrat last year. "I think I had my hands up, too. And then he just fired a shot. There was no delay at all."

But other than three titanium screws in his hip, Scott has no lasting side effects emotionally or physically.

Nathan Scott holds up an X-ray of his injury several days after a gunman wounded him and two others at Strozier Library.(Photo: Democrat files)

Scott returned to working the front desk at Strozier Library just three weeks later, rebuffing his doctor's request to stay home and rest. He still works there part time during the day.

"It's honestly not that weird at all," he said. "I don’t know if I just got over it really fast or what, but I went back to work after three weeks. It wasn’t a big deal for me at all.”

However, he did dodge death. As a result, he has approached life with an oddly serendipitous casualness ever since.

"I realize I have less control than I think maybe in a lot of situations," he said. "Some things are just beyond your control."

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FSU library worker survives gunman's bullet

But for the most part he's moved on. He's been busy the past year renovating condos he owns with his father. He's happy the incessant questions from strangers have stopped.

“I don’t really think about it that much anymore. I try to just forget about it," he said. “I think that the fact that I’ve told the story so many times is what makes me remember it, not the actual memory itself. I definitely remember details of it but probably not as lucidly as I did when it happened.”